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White House Takes Steps On College Sex Assaults

Measures Aim to Help schools More Effectively Respond to Allegations

By

Erica E. Phillips

April 28, 2014 11:06 p.m. ET

The
Obama
administration Monday announced a series of actions it will take to prevent sexual violence on college campuses nationwide, while also aiming to help schools more effectively respond to assault allegations.

The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, established by the president in January, also said it wants to improve the federal government's enforcement efforts, vowing to "pursue executive and legislative actions" to help protect students from sexual violence.

According to government studies, one in five women experiences sexual assault while in college, but those incidents often go unreported. Official security reports, which schools are required by law to submit to the federal government each year, show far lower numbers.

"Colleges and universities need to face the facts about sexual assault," Vice President
Joe Biden
said in a statement Monday. "No more turning a blind eye or pretending it doesn't exist."

The announcement comes as the task force wraps up three months of hearings and soliciting written comments from thousands of students, university officials, professors, campus social organizations, lawyers and other concerned groups.

The result is a report titled "Not Alone," in which the administration has laid out several recommendations.

First among them: schools should conduct surveys to evaluate "attitudes and awareness" toward assault. The survey will be voluntary in 2015 and could be mandatory by 2016 pending legislative or administrative action.

The report then urges college officials to take preventive action, such as establishing "bystander intervention programs" to encourage student witnesses to come forward, and improving confidentiality and clarity in reporting and disciplinary policies.

The task force promised in the coming months to provide further guidance and training for school administrators, while also offering clarity on their legal obligations for preventing, adjudicating, disciplining and reporting assaults to the U.S. Department of Education.

Enforcement data and other information will be made available publicly on a new federal government website beginning Tuesday, the administration said.

Alison Kiss,
executive director of the nonprofit Clery Center for Security on Campus in the Philadelphia area, which supports victims of violence and advocates for prevention, said she was pleased to see the administration emphasize prevention, campus surveys and, in particular, confidentiality.

"It will be wonderful to have that clarity for administrators," Ms. Kiss said, so when students tell a staff member about a violent encounter, they will know what to do. On many campuses, she said, it is often not clear what type of communications are privileged.

On Tuesday, representatives from many of the groups interviewed by the task force are expected to be at the White House for a meeting about the report.